A Cookie is a Cookie!
LastThursday I attended the sweet Bible Study in an Assisted Living Facility. A small room with a long table covered with a
white tablecloth is where we gathered.
Water and lemonade are available along with a plate of cookies in the center
of the table.. About seventeen ladies
with shining faces and hair of silver sit around the table. One lady asked someone to pass her a
cookie. “What kind do you want?” asked
the lady sitting near the plate of cookies.
The lady who asked for a cookie replied, “Oh any cookie, a cookie is a
cookie!”
Laughing,
I wondered if this is so. To me a cookie
is a delight, a celebration, no matter the diameter of the cookie, or its shape
or its contents. Curious, I continued to
ponder a cookie. Whether it is a wafer,
a scone, a sandwich cookie, a biscuit or a foreign sounding name (to me), a
cookie is more than a cookie. This food is found in many forms and the stories
abound as to their ingenious flavors, shapes and varieties. One baker ran out of nuts and added bits of
chocolate. Voila – Chocolate Chip
Cookies!
I wondered if this is so. To me a cookie
is a delight, a celebration, no matter the diameter of the cookie, or its shape
or its contents. Curious, I continued to
ponder a cookie. Whether it is a wafer,
a scone, a sandwich cookie, a biscuit or a foreign sounding name (to me), a
cookie is more than a cookie. This food is found in many forms and the stories
abound as to their ingenious flavors, shapes and varieties. One baker ran out of nuts and added bits of
chocolate. Voila – Chocolate Chip
Cookies!
When
our four teenagers came home in the afternoon and I was still at school, they
found a large, new metal trash can sitting on the kitchen counter filled with cookies. The cookies were purchased from the local
grocery store, and each cookie said, “I love you,” from Mom. Now we have a small glass jar of cookies on
the cabinet, and my ‘cookie monster’
husband has three every morning with his breakfast.
our four teenagers came home in the afternoon and I was still at school, they
found a large, new metal trash can sitting on the kitchen counter filled with cookies. The cookies were purchased from the local
grocery store, and each cookie said, “I love you,” from Mom. Now we have a small glass jar of cookies on
the cabinet, and my ‘cookie monster’
husband has three every morning with his breakfast.
When we
visited my Grosmom Emilie Brunn Siemens, all I had to say was ‘High-Hoopa”
(phonetic spelling) and the diminutive lady crinkled up in smiles and opened
the tin drawer of the old cabinet that held spicy molasses cookies that
crunched with sugar. I never learned what
‘High-Hoopa’ meant, and assumed it was the name of the molasses cookies.
visited my Grosmom Emilie Brunn Siemens, all I had to say was ‘High-Hoopa”
(phonetic spelling) and the diminutive lady crinkled up in smiles and opened
the tin drawer of the old cabinet that held spicy molasses cookies that
crunched with sugar. I never learned what
‘High-Hoopa’ meant, and assumed it was the name of the molasses cookies.
From
Mother’s kitchen came molasses cookies, crepe suzettes filled with sugar (flat
pancakes to us), oatmeal cookies, bars of various flavors, Brownies or
Blondies, and on New Year’s Day she made a tiny crust enclosed raisin. At Christmas time there were the koekie from
Holland, later called Pfeffernüsse
or in the low Dutch, päpanät (peppernuts).
Mother’s kitchen came molasses cookies, crepe suzettes filled with sugar (flat
pancakes to us), oatmeal cookies, bars of various flavors, Brownies or
Blondies, and on New Year’s Day she made a tiny crust enclosed raisin. At Christmas time there were the koekie from
Holland, later called Pfeffernüsse
or in the low Dutch, päpanät (peppernuts).
One
of my favorite cookies is peppernuts. It
is in my Mennonite heritage. I thank
Norma Jost Yost, author of Mennonite
Foods and Folkways from South Russia, Volume I, for giving a comprehensive
background of my favorite Christmas Cookie.
It contains not only 32 recipes of different flavoured peppernuts, but a
history of the tiny cookies. (Bet you
can’t just eat one!) A church in
Hillsboro, Kansas, bakes Peppernuts to sell at its annual Hillsboro Arts and Crafts Fair in September.
of my favorite cookies is peppernuts. It
is in my Mennonite heritage. I thank
Norma Jost Yost, author of Mennonite
Foods and Folkways from South Russia, Volume I, for giving a comprehensive
background of my favorite Christmas Cookie.
It contains not only 32 recipes of different flavoured peppernuts, but a
history of the tiny cookies. (Bet you
can’t just eat one!) A church in
Hillsboro, Kansas, bakes Peppernuts to sell at its annual Hillsboro Arts and Crafts Fair in September.
This
Christmas cookie is named for pepper because it contained pepper as one of the
spices and was later mixed with ginger and added to honey, eggs, flour. In the 14th century, cinnamon was
added. Spices were expensive then, a pound of ginger would buy a sheep during
the middle ages. A pound pepper could
buy a serf his freedom in medieval France.
Pfeffer means spices, and brings us our Pfeffernusse. Peppernuts have been a part of Russian
Mennonite baking traditions for several centuries. Recipes travel with people as they travel,
and many American Mennonite people still bake peppernuts from some of these
very old recipes. The use of candied fruit, walnuts, pecans, brown sugar and coconut or
dates would have been unthinkable to our grandmothers in Russia. They baked very plain peppernuts. (Page 366 – Norma Jost Vogt). Mother devised her own Peppernut Recipe found
here – http://emilysiemenscombs.blogspot.com/2009/12/peppernuts-christmas.html
Christmas cookie is named for pepper because it contained pepper as one of the
spices and was later mixed with ginger and added to honey, eggs, flour. In the 14th century, cinnamon was
added. Spices were expensive then, a pound of ginger would buy a sheep during
the middle ages. A pound pepper could
buy a serf his freedom in medieval France.
Pfeffer means spices, and brings us our Pfeffernusse. Peppernuts have been a part of Russian
Mennonite baking traditions for several centuries. Recipes travel with people as they travel,
and many American Mennonite people still bake peppernuts from some of these
very old recipes. The use of candied fruit, walnuts, pecans, brown sugar and coconut or
dates would have been unthinkable to our grandmothers in Russia. They baked very plain peppernuts. (Page 366 – Norma Jost Vogt). Mother devised her own Peppernut Recipe found
here – http://emilysiemenscombs.blogspot.com/2009/12/peppernuts-christmas.html
The
month long trip across the Atlantic Ocean for the Mennonites included packing
the staple foods of well toasted rye bread and Zwiebach plus a kettle to collect
hot water at the stations for coffee.
month long trip across the Atlantic Ocean for the Mennonites included packing
the staple foods of well toasted rye bread and Zwiebach plus a kettle to collect
hot water at the stations for coffee.
According
to the Easton Bible Dictionary, small cakes made of wheat or barley and
unleavened were made by the Israelites after they were driven out of Egypt. As it was unleavened it travelled well and
brought sustenance. Exodus 12:39. Later in Leviticus 2:4, And if
thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be
unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed
with oil. KJV (NLT – “When you present some kind of baked bread as
a grain offering, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but
without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of cakes mixed with olive
oil or wafers spread with olive oil.” In
I Samuel 30: 11-12 NIV – They found an Egyptian
in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to
eat– part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and
was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any
water for three days and three nights.
to the Easton Bible Dictionary, small cakes made of wheat or barley and
unleavened were made by the Israelites after they were driven out of Egypt. As it was unleavened it travelled well and
brought sustenance. Exodus 12:39. Later in Leviticus 2:4, And if
thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be
unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed
with oil. KJV (NLT – “When you present some kind of baked bread as
a grain offering, it must be made of choice flour mixed with olive oil but
without any yeast. It may be presented in the form of cakes mixed with olive
oil or wafers spread with olive oil.” In
I Samuel 30: 11-12 NIV – They found an Egyptian
in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to
eat– part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and
was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any
water for three days and three nights.
Anna,
our daughter, wrote, “Is a cookie a cookie? When are we satisfied with
anything? Is a cookie just another thing to munch because I need the sugar and
don’t care what kind it is, or am I looking for a specific experience? I
remember that one lovely time before all the allergies interrupted me, when I
had a white chocolate, chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie with a hint of
nutmeg? And I ask, “What should I take? Should I look for a specific
experience or should I be thankful for whatever is there and grateful that I
get a cookie.”
our daughter, wrote, “Is a cookie a cookie? When are we satisfied with
anything? Is a cookie just another thing to munch because I need the sugar and
don’t care what kind it is, or am I looking for a specific experience? I
remember that one lovely time before all the allergies interrupted me, when I
had a white chocolate, chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie with a hint of
nutmeg? And I ask, “What should I take? Should I look for a specific
experience or should I be thankful for whatever is there and grateful that I
get a cookie.”
As
I contemplated this cookie thing, I see that through the ages it has been a
matter of survival, nostalgia, a crisp delightful way to say I love you or just
a S’more way of saying comfort and security.
I considered the idea of a cookie further back to Moses’ Day in the
Wilderness. Exodus 16:31 – “The
people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed
and tasted like wafers made with honey.”
I contemplated this cookie thing, I see that through the ages it has been a
matter of survival, nostalgia, a crisp delightful way to say I love you or just
a S’more way of saying comfort and security.
I considered the idea of a cookie further back to Moses’ Day in the
Wilderness. Exodus 16:31 – “The
people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed
and tasted like wafers made with honey.”
I hear the clink of the cookie jar lid in the
kitchen as I write and I wonder if God liked cookies, too. He fed his people manna, until they were
tired of the blessing from Heaven and wanted more. Then he sent quail.
kitchen as I write and I wonder if God liked cookies, too. He fed his people manna, until they were
tired of the blessing from Heaven and wanted more. Then he sent quail.
Is God still giving us His Manna from Heaven
today? His blessings? Yes.
We only have to open our eyes and our hearts to the world around us to
see His Manna Blessings all around us
filled with sweetness like honey, spices to keep us alert to Him and sustenance
to have faith and walk in His Way.
today? His blessings? Yes.
We only have to open our eyes and our hearts to the world around us to
see His Manna Blessings all around us
filled with sweetness like honey, spices to keep us alert to Him and sustenance
to have faith and walk in His Way.
Next time I see a child smile, or feel the touch
of a supporting hand, or hear a song of praise to Him, or taste the sweetness
of His love, or someone touches my heart, I know it is Manna from God. Blessings come from my Father in Heaven. I will never ever ask for more variety or
love than He gives me.
of a supporting hand, or hear a song of praise to Him, or taste the sweetness
of His love, or someone touches my heart, I know it is Manna from God. Blessings come from my Father in Heaven. I will never ever ask for more variety or
love than He gives me.
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give
thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalm 79:13
thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalm 79:13
Can ‘a cookie just be a cookie?’
Comments? eacombs@att.net